Woman Killed Driving Wrong Way up M5 Motorway 'Was Naked'

The M5 motorway was closed for seven hours on Saturday as emergency services attended the scene and police investigated.

A woman who died in a motorway pile-up after driving up the wrong side of the M5 was found naked on the road after being thrown from the vehicle, it has emerged.

The unnamed woman, said to be in her late 20s to early 30s, was killed after her Ford Ka collided with four vehicles near Portishead in Somerset in the early hours of Saturday.

An emergency worker who attended the scene said: "She was naked. And she was thrown out of the car by the impact.

"The police are trying to find out why she was in that state and what led her to drive the wrong way down the motorway."

The victim was driving a small blue Ford Ka hatchback when she hit two cars in separate collisions as she drove north up the southbound carriageway from Weston-super-Mare towards Clevedon at 12.30am, police said.

When the car came to a standstill, it was hit by two further vehicles, police said.

"At around 12.30am a blue Ford Ka started driving in the wrong direction on the southbound carriageway from Weston-super-Mare towards Clevedon," said a spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police.

"It was involved in separate collisions with two vehicles and was left stationary when it was hit by two more vehicles.

"Unfortunately the driver of the Ford Ka, a woman in her late twenties or early thirties, died at the scene.

"The road was closed while the emergency services dealt with the incident and to allow us to start our investigation into the circumstances of the collision. It was open again by 7.30am.

"A family liaison officer has been appointed to support the family of the woman who died."

The road, a key tourist route in the West Country, was closed for around seven hours while the emergency services dealt with the incident and police investigated the crash.

Police are appealing for anyone who witnessed the crash, or anyone who saw the Ford Ka being driven in the area prior to the incident, to call the accident investigation unit on 101.